“Matthias, if he was a true prophet of God I knew there was much I could learn from him, despite his lack of formal education. God does not choose his messengers by the titles they hold or the gold in their vault or the studies in which they excelled in school. And even if he were not a prophet, I was curious to meet the man who had made such a strong impression on my son and who was already causing great concern among the authorities because of his revolutionary ideas as well as his miracles.”

“And your visit to Jesus was at night for a reason?”

“For the most obvious one,” Nicodemus said, lowering his head. “I did not want to be seen in his company, for fear that my motives might not be understood by others and my good name would suffer.”

“Did Jesus meet with you?”

“He met with both of us,” Nicodemus exclaimed, placing his hand on Joseph’s shoulder and pulling the Arimathean toward him. “I am not a man known for my courage and I was concerned about going to Jesus alone, so I asked my old friend, here, to ride with me to Bethany where Jesus was staying.”

I should have known. Another minor biblical mystery had just been cleared up. The third chapter of John deals with the visit of Nicodemus to Jesus without mentioning that he had any company, but John quotes Nicodemus as having said, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God …” We, not I.

“And you went with him, Joseph?”

“I did, Matthias. I too wanted to meet this man who had already been the cause of several meetings of the Sanhedrin. Shem accompanied us for protection, but none was needed and Jesus received us cordially.”

“Did he know he was in the company of two of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Jerusalem?”

“He knew, but it made no difference in his treatment of us. So far as he was concerned we were just two more children of Israel seeking the truth. We told him that we knew he must be a man of God, for no man could do what he had done unless God was with him. Then Nicodemus asked him how we could share in the Kingdom of God, and Jesus said that unless a man was born again he could not see the Kingdom.”